The present invention relates to trailers for storing and drying harvested crops, such as peanuts, and, more particularly, to a trailer that will store a large volume of harvested crop and simultaneously prevent mold during drying by air flow therethrough.
Field crops, such as peanuts, are too moist at the time of harvesting to store or handle in bulk. Prior to automated farming, a method of drying harvested peanuts to put the harvested peanuts in burlap sacks and stand in the field for drying by the ambient conditions therearound. However, drying the peanuts in burlap sacks has many drawbacks, especially when there is high humidity, which may include periods of rain. The drying of the peanuts in burlap sacks required the frequent moving of the sacks, which results in a large amount of labor.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,238,890 and 4,222,317 by Curtis, a trailer is shown that has a wire mesh therearound along with conical air directors for directing air into conduits inside of the trailer. The trailer as shown in Curtis is used for field drying of the peanuts as long as air may be directed inside of the trailer into relatively close proximity with all of the peanuts stored therein. However, the conical air directors and conduits cause the trailer to be very expensive and take away from the storage space of the trailer. Also a single wire mesh that is very expensive is used on all sides and the bottom of the trailer. However, the trailer as shown in Curtis has limited volume, is expensive to build, and is not structurally sound.
In the drying of harvested crops, such as peanuts, if a wire mesh trailer is used for drying of the harvested crops by the air flow therethrough, through, one has to be careful to prevent aflogilis mold, which gives off an aflatoxin. If an aflogilis mold forms on peanuts, then regulations of the Food and Drug Administration prevent any of the peanuts in the entire trailer from being used as an edible food product. See paragraphs 181-190 of the Farmers' Stock Peanuts--Inspection Instructions published by the United States Department of Agriculture (revised July 1985). Therefore, it is extremely important to prevent a mold build-up during the drying process. Since direct sunlight would have a tendency to cause the mold build-up, a cover, such as shown in Curtis, is typically used to prevent direct impingement by the sunlight on the top of the peanuts being dried. Section 51.12 of the "Regulations Governing Inspection, Certification, and Standards for Fresh Fruits, Vegetables and Other Products" also requires that the produce be made reasonably accessible for sampling and inspection.